SF Giants avoid sweep as Verlander shines, offense scores five runs in 11th inning

PHOENIX — For four months, Justin Verlander arrived at a ballpark seeking answers.

What’s the way out of this? How do I make the adjustment? What do I need to do? What’s wrong?

Verlander didn’t hide his frustrations in April and May and June and July. He maintained a high standard of excellence — a standard he was not meeting. At the All-Star break, Verlander owned no wins and subpar numbers. For Verlander, it was one of the most frustrating — if not the most frustrating — starts to a season he’s every experienced.

That struggle is what’s made this current run of success so much more vindicating.

Verlander tossed seven shutout innings Wednesday on an afternoon at Chase Field where the Giants beat the Diamondbacks 5-1 in 11 innings, snapping a four-game losing streak. Despite a no decision, Verlander helped keep San Francisco’s playoff hopes alive as Arizona’s Brandon Pfaadt pitched nine scoreless before the Giants erupted for five runs in the game’s final frame.

“I can only recall a few (seasons) that went the way you want from start to finish. I can also recall a few that were very difficult for most of the year, this being one of those,” Verlander said. “Kind of a relentlessness to find your way out of it and never give in and always adapt has helped me tremendously. Obviously, I would like to finish strong. I’ve got a couple more left. But in a weird way, it’s a bit more vindicating because you put in that much work every day.”

Verlander has made his share of history in recent weeks, currently sitting at eighth on the all-time strikeout list after passing Walter Johnson then Gaylord Perry. With seven shutout innings, he joined Roger Clemens as the only pitchers age 42 or older to not allow more than one run in four straight starts in the last 125 seasons.

“I get to talk about him and a milestone and breaking somebody’s (record) — Gaylord Perry, Walter Johnson — almost every start now,” said manager Bob Melvin. “That just kind of signifies who he is as a pitcher and how he continues to pitch at such a high level again.”

Added center fielder Drew Gilbert: “What he’s been doing is kind of unhuman. If we’re not playing our hardest behind him, I don’t know what we’re doing.”

Verlander was the beneficiary of several great catches by Gilbert, the most crucial coming in the fifth when Gilbert tracked down Jake McCarthy’s deep drive to the right-center field warning track to keep the game tied at zero. The next half inning, Gilbert lined a single into right field to break up Pfaadt’s no-hit bid with a one-out single.

“I’m going to be honest, when I first looked up and started tracking the ball and saw where he was playing, I didn’t think he was going to catch it,” Verlander said. “Then I saw him make up some ground and he made a great play. Great route, great read.”

“The ball (Gilbert) got was a game-saver at that point,” Melvin said. “That gets down, it’s a whole different deal. With Justin, you know there are going to be some balls in the air. … Even though Gilbert didn’t do a whole lot at the plate — he got one hit — he was instrumental in the win.”

Gilbert’s grab was invaluable on an afternoon where Pfaadt pitched the best game of his career, tossing nine shutout innings with seven strikeouts. Like Verlander, Pfaadt got stuck with a no-decision as Spencer Bivens and Ryan Walker followed with scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth.

Walker nearly allowed his second walk-off in the last 24 hours when the Diamondbacks loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but the cross-firing right-hander wiggled his way out of trouble and sent the game to extras.

San Francisco and Arizona both failed to score in the 10th, pushing the ballgame to the 11th inning. It was then, with Verlander and Pfaadt having long since departed, that the Giants broke the stalemate.

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After top prospect Bryce Eldridge drew a leadoff walk, reaching base for the first time in his career, Jerar Encarnacion flipped a single into center field that drove in Matt Chapman and gave San Francisco the game’s first run. The insurance runs would soon follow.

Following Patrick Bailey’s bloop single, Christian Koss delivered a two-run double with the bases loaded, giving the Giants a 3-0 lead and sending fans to the exits. Following Grant McCray’s sacrifice fly and Rafael Devers’ RBI single, the Giants owned an emphatic 5-0 lead.

With the Mets losing today, the Giants are two games back of the final NL wild card spot (technically three games back due to the tiebreaker) with 10 games remaining. If the Giants are to have any shot at the postseason, they’ll need Verlander to continue churning out vintage performances.

“Our destiny is not in our hands. That’s not something we can control,” Verlander said. “The only thing we can control is trying to win as many baseball games as possible and see what’s what. We’ve been a streaky team all year. When we find a way to be on a hot streak, we can roll through anybody and win a lot of games very quickly.”